Mayan Glyphs

c. 300 BCE – 900 CE · Mesoamerica (Yucatán, Guatemala, Belize)

Mayan Glyphs

The serpentine script of the Long Count

A logosyllabic script of around 800 glyphs, carved on stelae, codices, and pyramid walls — recording dynasties, eclipses, and the dance of Venus.

The Long Count

A vigesimal calendar tracking days from a mythical zero point of 11 August 3114 BCE. The cycle of 13 b'ak'tuns ended on 21 December 2012 — the misread 'apocalypse'.

The Dresden Codex

One of only four surviving pre-Columbian Maya books — astronomical tables predicting Venus, Mars, and eclipses with mathematical precision.

Decipherment

Cracked between 1950 (Yuri Knorozov) and the 1990s — the script is logosyllabic, mixing word-signs with phonetic syllables.

Alphabet · Glyphs

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